It wasn't a big fat russian cookbook, was it????? I ordered one once and got a tiny little book on economics instead. I sent it back but it took a really long time to get a refund because they said they never received it.

But that was a long time ago and they've since done right by me - quickly sending a second Tenebre CD after the one I got was defective - and even sending me a complimentary Amazon travel mug one Xmas - so all is forgiven.

My only gripe with Amazon is that their packaging sucks. They tend to ship DVDs to me in cardboard wrap-arounds, which insures that digipaks/boxed sets will arrive crushed or dented. Doesn't matter if they're shipped UPS or Post Office, the packages will have the shit beat out of them by the time they get to my porch.

My other bitch is that they charge me sales tax, but that's because Kansas never met a tax it didn't like. Which is strange because it's about as red of a state as you can find. So not only are we full of religious fanatics, AND get hit with taxes every time you turn around. (Can't really lay this at Amazon's feet; they have a warehouse here, so the assholes that run my state make them charge sales tax.)

__________________"There are 100,000 total marijuana smokers in the US, and most are Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers. Their Satanic music, jazz, and swing, result from marijuana use. This marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others." -- Harry J. Anslinger, first commissioner of the United States Bureau of Narcotics

Yeah, I finally gave Amazon.com the boot, myself, and I used to spend thousands of dollars a year with them.

What I love is when you order something that they have listed as "In Stock - Usually ships within 24 Hours," and two days later when you check to see what the delay is they have an "expected" date of like two weeks later.

My other bitch is that they charge me sales tax, but that's because Kansas never met a tax it didn't like

Yeah, I love that one, too. I don't think it's even legal to collect sales tax on an interstate purchase unless the company resides in your state. In any event, I'd be surprised if any of those taxes actually make it to Kansas.

I usually order from Buy.com over Amazon.com, especially for music cds as Buy.com 90% of the time is cheaper. I don't order DVDs from anywhere but Deep Discount.

Anyway, the only bad experience I ever had with Amazon was actually with Toys R Us, which is an affiliate of Amazon or something. I ordered 3 PS2 games during a "Buy 2, get 1 free" sale back in November. All three games were listed as in stock and ready to ship within 24 hours. A week later I got an email saying that the delivery estimate would be around mid January 2006!

Anyway, I ended up getting them in early December, so it turned out not to be too bad at all. Unfortunately all three games were pretty lousy and I sold them soon after. Since one was free, I ended up making money though!

I usually order from Buy.com over Amazon.com, especially for music cds as Buy.com 90% of the time is cheaper. I don't order DVDs from anywhere but Deep Discount.

Anyway, the only bad experience I ever had with Amazon was actually with Toys R Us, which is an affiliate of Amazon or something.

Anyway, I ended up getting them in early December, so it turned out not to be too bad at all. Unfortunately all three games were pretty lousy and I sold them soon after. Since one was free, I ended up making money though!

You call that you "only bad experience"?

__________________We do not have to visit a madhouse to find disordered minds; our planet is the mental institution of the universe.

I did a lot of my Xmas shopping through Amazon this year. I had an overall good experience. On one order they did not gift wrap the items, which I requested - and paid for. They were quick to refund the $ after an email, however. I even used them to drop ship items to my nieces in Nevada - all of whom got the presents before the estimated dated.

Sorry to dig up and dust off such an old thread, but has anyone else noticed a serious degradation of Amazons service lately? Shipping has increased over a dollar, rarely does anything I pre-order actually ship on release day anymore. I used to get my orders in two to three days tops, now it seems like everything takes over a week. Is this their way of getting everyone to sign up for their Prime bullshit? Not to mention that a couple of people who I know that signed up for Prime said it really isn't that much faster. Prime makes such a big deal about new releases being on your doorstep on the actual release day? That's how the service should be for everyone! I would always have my orders shipped the day of release and get them in about two days, now they don't even ship the new releases until two days later. I'm done with them, it's Diabolik DVD for me from here on out. Those guys are great. I ordered the new Street Trash blu-ray last night and it shipped out this morning. That's customer service! They may be a couple of dollars more on occasion, but I have no problem giving my money to the people who actually give a shit about their customers.

My Prime membership expires this week. I've got all my Scream Factory blu-rays pre-ordered through October, so even though I don't have Prime anymore I should still get release date delivery on them. But yeah, unless you have a Prime membership, they're not too great.

I have noticed that their shipping dates have become more erratic. Lately, there have been so many films I have preordered that I am unaware of their release dates. I like that should the price drop, then shoot back up ad nauseum that I get the lowest price when it ships. I'm content to get 'em when I get 'em. Now the Playstation 4 on the other hand had better be here day one.